Paperboard trays useful for stacking and forming into a grocery store have become more and more popular and, as a result, the product industry and, in particular, citrus packing houses have had an increased demand for providing packaged fruit within paperboard trays such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,863 to Kimbrell, Sr. Typically, and as addressed in the Kimbrell '863 patent, there is a need for reinforcing corners of the tray to support the stacking of such trays in shipping and displaying of product. As is recognized in the art, such trays are typically formed from a single generally rectangular shaped panel blank which has been suitably cut, scored and perforated to be folded into a completed tray for subsequent filling of product and shipping. The demand in the industry is such that the costs and extensive time associated with manually forming such trays are prohibitive. As a result, paperboard tray forming machines such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,460,349 to Charron have come into wide use for automatically forming a paperboard tray from a flat production blank. As has been typical in the art, and described in the Charron '349 patent, by way of example, the paperboard tray forming machine passes the blank through various multiple folding stages where adhesive is applied to appropriate portions of the blank at selected stations for securing the formed blank into the finished tray. As one would expect in a tray having multiple folds, such a machine for duplicating the manual effort of the human hand can become complicated. As a result, it has become important to simplify both construction of the tray and the tray forming apparatus to improve on both the cost for each and the time required to form trays.
Especially in the citrus industry, by way of example, packing plants are often responsible for the harvesting of the product, sorting and grading the product, preparing the product for shipping by washing and waxing, and packing the product into such trays for shipment. Because of the various industry demands on these packing plants, such as the need for more timely deliveries, for lower and more control of labor costs, for more control over the sorting and grading, preparing, packing, shipping, storing, and providing a container for appropriate displaying, demands arise at various stages of these processes.
The present invention is directed to the needs arising in the supply speed and forming of tray type containers used for the packing, shipping, storing, and displaying of the product. Conventionally, tray type containers are formed of a paperboard or cardboard material such as earlier described, which is relatively inexpensive, lightweight, and in many cases recyclable. These tray type containers are shaped in size for particular purposes. Such purposes include the storing in a stacked arrangement for carrying and shipping on pallets and delivery to the retail store or displayed in the shipping container. As a result, it is important that the container remain as attractive as when it was first formed. As one might imagine, the delicate preparation and handling of such containers becomes costly and very time consuming. As a result, it becomes important to provide a container that is structurally sound and can meet the demands placed on it from the time it is filled with product at the packing house to the time it is displayed for viewing by the consumer. In addition, there is demand of forming such trays as quickly as possible to meet both the demand for the trays in shipping product as well as the efficiency required for reducing overall production and shipping costs.